How narratives shape policy: Lessons learned from port projects adjacent to coral reefs in Florida and the Cayman Islands

Navigating the currents of coastal narratives in search of sustainable futures

“…The outcomes of these difficulties can sometimes result in the use of archetypal characters of heroes, villains, victims, and survivors narratives that include policy processes as plots and policy solutions as morals (Shanahan et al 2019). Bailey et al (2022) describe pro-project stakeholders using strategic narratives of heroes in 84% of their messages in the example of Deep Dredge Project in Port of Miami. In this case, the specific heroes included the project itself or Floridian government officials with opponents of the expansion being the villains.…”

“…In this case, the specific heroes included the project itself or Floridian government officials with opponents of the expansion being the villains. From the perspective of the pro-expansion lobby, 'specific heroic acts consisted of generating economic growth, bringing jobs to the state, and successfully implementing mitigation efforts to ensure development did not harm coral reefs' (Bailey et al 2022). In contrast, for those opposing the expansion, the heroes were policy actors advocating for increased environmental protection.…”

Narrative Policy Framework: Presidential Threshold Policy Toward the 2024 Election

“…According to Shanahan et al, Narrative Policy Framework NPF is a theoretical framework that establishes preferred assumptions, standards, and hypotheses for the take-a-look coverage narratives (Shanahan et al, 2018) and guides how to conduct empirical research on the role of these narratives in the policy process (Apriliyanti et al, 2022). The Narrative Policy Framework is also used to understand how the narrative is used by stakeholders, both for and against (Bailey et al, 2022). Discovering the function of policy narratives in the public policy process is the goal of the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF).…”